Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Not too many people are noticing this, but that organization, started to supposedly "protect marriage" from us so-called evil lgbts, seems to be going off the deep end in terms of rhetoric.

When it began, NOM cleverly played up the "we are unfairly being called bigots because we simply want to protect marriage" meme. And that was because of the savvy of its founder, Maggie Gallagher.

But now with Gallagher handing the reins of the group to Brian Brown, the organization has abandoned all pretenses of martyrdom and is headed straight for crazy-talk territory.

This was evident when it joined forces in its "Summer for Marriage" tour with one Louis J. Marinelli III, a man who not only cites the discredited work of Paul Cameron, but is also very vocal in the belief that gays want to cause all sorts of mischief from molesting children to creating polygamous relationships.

And if that's not bad enough, from the administrator of NOM's facebook page comes this little "gem:"

(Gays and lesbians) are not being repressed, discriminated against. There is no and never has ever been a homosexual man hunt for them. Jews, Christians, and Blacks were hunted down and murdered. Homosexuals have nothing in common with the three.

Sometimes people say things so wildly inaccurate that any comment you want to make is unnecessary.

The statement by NOM is beyond the pale and it further proves what many lgbts know about that group. NOM is not interested in defending marriage. It's only interested in bashing lgbts, but not by physical attacks.

NOM seeks to psychologically bash us.

First the organization tells us that we are not worthy of marriage; that we have no ability to love and raise children; that we are undeserving of anything except for what folks like them feel that they want to give us.

And now with that statement, NOM seeks to rewrite history in a way that eliminates our past struggles for equality in the same manner that the group is also trying to eliminate our potential future happiness.

I think a question by web site Box Turtle Bulletin about the statement on NOM's facebook page says it all:

Truth Wins Out Joins Protest In Boston Against Ex-Gay Gospel Singer- In the past, Donnie McClurkin could cover up his homophobia by either claiming that he was misquoted or appealing to the "you can't call me homophobic because I'm just like you" lie. However, Truth Wins Out has him dead to rights when it comes to ugly things he has said about lgbts. And if you need a visual, check out this past post of mine complete with video of him saying those ugly things.

If there was ever proof that the Obama Administration has gone off the rails, it's Amtrak. For the first time in the train service's history, Amtrak has decided to spend a quarter-million dollars recruiting homosexual passengers. As you may know, Amtrak isn't a private business. This is a government-run business, meaning that this $250,000 is taken directly from taxpayers' pockets. In a very real sense, this ad campaign is a federal endorsement of homosexual behavior -- one of the most serious public health threats in America. Using taxpayer funds to promote this ad campaign is insulting to the millions of Americans who have deeply-held moral convictions against homosexuality. Yet Washington is targeting the demographically small homosexual population-probably because marketing surveys suggest it is also one of the richest. So let's be honest. This Administration is more interested in riding the gravy train than getting the culture back on track.

Please contact senior officials at Amtrak and ask them to stop this campaign using your tax dollars!

Now this is being totally ridiculous, even for the Family Research Council. The ad campaign in question is rather innocent and is nothing that Amtrak hasn't done before with other groups:

For the first time, Amtrak is courting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered travelers with a targeted $250,000 multimedia advertising blitz this summer.

The government-owned rail company is looking to the LGBT community for business with the hopes that its propensity for travel will translate well into rail transportation.

While Amtrak spokeswoman, Karina Romero did not go into specifics, she told The Daily Caller, “We are always looking for new ways to reach potential passengers and this community travels a lot.”

Darlene Abubakar, the director of national advertising for Amtrak, told TheDC, “Most all of the major airlines, hotels and others in the travel and tourism industry target the LGBT market segment … Amtrak ’s goal is to raise the level of awareness of the benefits of train travel and increase consideration and ridership amongst this segment.”

. . . Amtrak has targeted other demographic groups in the past, including students, seniors, veterans, families with children, Hispanics, African Americans and international customers. However this is the first time it has aimed its efforts toward the LGBT community. Romero told TheDC that Amtrak advertisements would be featured in television and publications specifically geared toward the LGBT population.

You see this is what we talk about when we accuse FRC and organizations like them of being homophobic. It's one thing to have a religious belief against homosexuality, but that claim about "homosexual behavior being a public health threat" is like a racist saying that Amtrak shouldn't target the African-American community because it may cause black men to have sex with white women.

About Me

Alvin McEwen is 46-year-old African-American gay man who resides in Columbia, SC.
McEwen's blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and writings have been mentioned by Americablog.com, Goodasyou.org, People for the American Way, PageOneQ.com, The Washington Post, Raw Story, The Advocate, Media Matters for America, Crooksandliars.com, Thinkprogress.org, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, Melissa Harris-Perry, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Blade, and Foxnews.com.
In addition, he is also a past contributor to Pam's House Blend,Justice For All, LGBTQ Nation, and Alternet.org. He is a present contributor to the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,
He is the 2007 recipient of the Harriet Daniels Hancock Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2010 recipient of the Order of the Pink Palmetto from the SC Pride Movement as well as the 2009 recipient of the Audre Lorde/James Baldwin Civil Rights Activist Award from SC Black Pride. In addition, he is a three-time nominee of the Ed Madden Media Advocacy Award from SC Pride.